Edwin Flack

Edwin Harold Flack (5 November 1873 – 10 January 1935) was an

Australian athlete and tennis player. Also known as "Teddy",[1]He
Edwin Flack
was Australia's first Olympian, being its only representative in 1896,
and the first Olympic champion in the 800 metres and the
1500 metres running events.[2][3]

Following Flack's Olympic appearance, he did not compete in any

large events again, opting to breed cattle and help his family's
accounting firm. Flack died aged 61 following an operation, and was
buried in his home city of Berwick. He is commemorated there by a
bronze statue on High Street and a reserve which includes several
sporting grounds. Flack was also inducted into the Sport Australia
and Athletics Australia halls of fame in 1985 and 2000, respectively.

Personal information
Contents
Full name Edwin Harold Flack
Early life Born 5 November 1873
1896 Olympics Islington, London,
Later life England

Legacy Died 10 January 1935

(aged 61)
References
Melbourne, Victoria,
External links Australia
Sport
Early life Sport Athletics, tennis
Medal record
Born in London, England, Edwin Flack was five years old when his
family migrated to Australia, to live in Berwick, Victoria. Soon after Men's athletics
leaving the Melbourne Church of England Grammar School in 1892, Representing Australia (AUS)
where he studied Greek history, Flack joined his father's Olympic Games
accountancy firm, Davey, Flack & Co.[4] From 1892 to 1894, Flack
was active in middle and long-distance running in amateur athletics 1896 Athens 800 metres
in the then colony of Victoria, competing with the Melburnian Hare 1896 Athens 1500 metres
& Hounds athletics club.[5] In October 1892 he placed third in the Men's tennis
inaugural Victorian 10 mile cross country championship, held at
Representing a Mixed team
Oakleigh (Park) Racecourse, in a time of 1:02.42.0.[6]
1896 Athens Doubles
On 9 to 11 November 1893, an intercolonial meet described as the
Australasian Championships was held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, between athletes from the British
colonies that were later to form the nations of Australia and New Zealand. This was the second such meet,
the first having been held at Moore Park in Sydney on 31 May 1890.[7] Flack competed in the 1893 event
and won the mile championship in a time of 4:44.0, with a winning margin of two yards.[8] He also
competed in the 880 yards (won by Ken McCrae of New South Wales in 2:06.8) and three miles
championship (won by Charles Herbert of Victoria in 15:33.6), but was unplaced in both events.[9] By virtue
of his win in the mile event he was also awarded the Victorian 1893 mile championship title and, on 30
September 1893, was third in the Victorian 10 mile cross country championship in a time of 1:05.21.[10]

On 15 December 1894 Flack won both the 880 yards (2:07.2) and mile (4:49.4) Victorian 1894
championships and, earlier in the year, on 22 September 1894 was second in the 10 mile cross country
championship (1:00.02).[11] The 1894 event was Flack's last appearance in the Victorian Championships.
The same year, Flack was sent to London to receive further training as an accountant with the firm Price,
Waterhouse & Co (now PricewaterhouseCoopers). Flack joined the London Athletic Club and was intent on
attending the coming inaugural Olympics.[5]

1896 Olympics
Flack reached Athens after an uncomfortable six-day rail and sea trip, during
which he was plagued with sea sickness.[12] On the opening day of the Games
he won his first race, the first heat of the 800 metres run, finishing in a time of
2 min 10.0 sec.[4] On the second day he lined up against the American
favourite, Arthur Blake, in the 1500 metres run. Running shoulder to shoulder
with Blake in the final straight, Flack powered ahead near the end to win by
more than five metres in a time of 4:33.2.[13] On the fourth day of the Games
Flack earned his second first-place medal, winning the 800 metres in 2 min 11.9
sec.[4]

It may be noted that, even by the standards of the time, the times required to
win the 800 m and 1,500 m at the first Olympics were slow. Although there was
no official world record in that era, by way of comparison the local 880 yards
championship in Flack's home colony of Victoria was won that year in 2:04.4
and the previous year (1895) in 2:03.4.[14][15] At the Australasian
Edwin Flack in Athens in Championships of 1896, the mile run was won by New Zealander W. Bennett
1896 in a time of 4:28.6 – some 4.6s quicker than Flack's Olympic 1,500 m time,
despite running 100 metres further.[16]

Just a day later Flack tried for a treble with the marathon event, despite never having run a race more than
16 kilometres.[17] He was in second place behind Frenchman Albin Lermusiaux, bronze medallist in the
1500 m run who Flack had already beaten, for much of the race. After 30–32 kilometres, the Frenchman
dropped out and Flack was left in the lead, but 4–8 kilometres later (sources vary), Flack collapsed.[4][5] In
his deliriousness, when a Greek spectator tried to help him, Flack punched him to the ground.[18] Flack was
removed from the course and transported to the stadium by a carriage, wherein he was tended to by Prince
Nicholas.[19]

Flack also competed in the tennis singles and doubles at the Olympics. He lost in the first round of the
singles to Aristidis Akratopoulos of Greece. In the doubles he was paired with an English friend, George S.
Robertson. They reached the semi-finals after a walk-over in the first round, but lost their only match to
Dionysios Kasdaglis of Egypt and Demetrios Petrokokkinos of Greece.[8] They placed third due to their
semi-final appearance, but medals for third places were not yet awarded in 1896. The medals were
retroactively awarded in January 2008.[20]

Flack was a popular competitor at the 1896 games, and was commonly referred to as the "Lion of Athens".
As the Australian colonies had not yet federated, there was no national anthem or uniform. As such, Flack
competed in his Melbourne Grammar School colours.[2][21][22]
Later life
Flack returned to Victoria and the family Melbourne-based accounting firm, now named Flack and Flack, in
1898.[23] Flack purchased a property near Berwick, Victoria, where he stayed on weekends and bred
Friesian cattle. He never competed for Victoria again (or for Australia after it was formed in 1901), but
joined the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) and was involved as a representative for Australia at the
first International Olympic Committee (IOC) Congress.[24] Flack died in 1935 following an operation at a
private hospital, and was cremated with his ashes interred at Berwick Cemetery.[2]

Legacy
Flack is commemorated by a bronze statue on the median strip of
High St, Berwick,[2] which was unveiled in 1998 by former running
great and later Governor of Victoria, John Landy.[25] The former
Berwick Recreational Reserve was renamed Edwin Flack Reserve in
1996 to honour the town's first Olympic hero and medal winner,[24]
and includes several sporting grounds including an athletics track, an
Australian rules football oval, netball courts and soccer pitch.
Melbourne Grammar School's sporting complex at Port Melbourne
has been named Edwin Flack Park in honour of their past Memorial for Flack in Berwick,
student.[26] Victoria

Flack was commemorated on a 45-cent Australian postage stamp in

the Olympic centenary year of 1996.[24] The AOC named one of the streets alongside Stadium Australia at
Homebush in Sydney, the venue of the 2000 Summer Olympics, as Edwin Flack Avenue.[2] In 1985, Flack
was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame,[27] and he was inducted into the Athletics Australia Hall
of Fame in 2000.[28] Athletics Australia's Edwin Flack Award, which is awarded to "an athlete who has
rendered distinguished service to athletics", is named in his honour.[29]

Flack was portrayed by English actor Benedict Taylor in the 1984 television mini-series The First Olympics:
Athens 1896.[30]

References
1. Jobling, Ian (2018). " 'Teddy' Flack was the 'Lion of Athens' " (http://isoh.org/wp-content/upload
s/2019/02/353.pdf) (PDF). International Society of Olympic Historians. Retrieved 17 February
2020.
2. "Edwin Flack — Our first Olympic champion" (https://web.archive.org/web/20180724154131/htt
ps://www.casey.vic.gov.au/council/about-casey/history/edwin-flack). City of Casey. Archived
from the original on 24 July 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2007.
3. "Edwin Flack Olympic Results" (https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/fl/teddy-fla
ck-1.html). sports-reference.com. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
4. "Edwin Flack becomes Australia's first Olympian" (http://www.nma.gov.au/online_features/defin
ing_moments/featured/first-olympian). www.nma.gov.au. National Museum of Australia.
Retrieved 24 July 2018.
5. "Edwin Flack (1873–1935)" (https://www.athletics.com.au/hall-of-fame-directory/edwin-flack/).
Athletics Australia. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
 6. "Athletics Victoria Historical Results, Victorian Men's Championships, 1892" (http://athsvic.org.
au/wp-content/uploads/1892-Victorian-Mens-Championships.xls). athsvic.org.au. Athletics
Victoria. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
7. "Athletics Australia Historical Results" (https://web.archive.org/web/20180919171744/http://ath
history.imgstg.com/aust_tf/tf_m_1890-91.htm). athhistory.imgstg.com. Athletics Australia.
Archived from the original (http://athhistory.imgstg.com/aust_tf/tf_m_1890-91.htm) on 19
September 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
8. "Edwin Flack (AUS) — 800 m, 1500 m, marathon (et tennis)" (https://www.olympic.org/fr/news/
edwin-flack-aus-800-m-1-500-m-marathon-et-tennis) [Edwin Flack (AUS) — 800 m, 1500 m,
marathon (and tennis)] (in French). Retrieved 17 February 2020.
9. "Athletics Australia Historical Results" (https://web.archive.org/web/20180305150025/http://ath
history.sportstg.com/aust_tf/tf_m_1893-94.htm). athhistory.sportstg.com. Athletics Australia.
Archived from the original (http://athhistory.sportstg.com/aust_tf/tf_m_1893-94.htm) on 5
March 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
10. "Athletics Victoria Historical Results, Victorian Men's Championships, 1893" (https://web.archiv
e.org/web/20140728055130/http://athsvic.org.au/wp-content/uploads/1893-Victorian-Mens-Ch
ampionships.xls). athsvic.org.au. Athletics Victoria. Archived from the original (http://athsvic.or
g.au/wp-content/uploads/1893-Victorian-Mens-Championships.xls) on 28 July 2014. Retrieved
19 July 2014.
11. "Athletics Victoria Historical Results, Victorian Men's Championships, 1894" (http://athsvic.org.
au/wp-content/uploads/1894-Victorian-Mens-Championships.xls). athsvic.org.au. Athletics
Victoria. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20190321150610/http://athsvic.org.au/wp-conte
nt/uploads/1894-Victorian-Mens-Championships.xls) from the original on 21 March 2019.
Retrieved 19 July 2014.
12. Campbell, Paul (5 August 2016). "Uber driver makes it to Rio to see his son compete thanks to
passenger's kindness" (https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/aug/05/uber-driver-olympics-ri
o-2016-kindness-crowdfunding). The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077 (https://www.worldcat.org/iss
n/0261-3077). Retrieved 2 February 2020.
13. Robertson, Robin (4 August 1992). "First Australian Olympian's sporting effort" (https://www.af
r.com/politics/first-australian-olympians-sporting-effort-19920804-k53bl). Australian Financial
Review. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
14. "Athletics Victoria, Men's Championship Results, 1895" (http://athsvic.org.au/wp-content/uploa
ds/1895-Victorian-Mens-Championships.xls). Athletics Victoria. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
15. "Athletics Victoria, Men's Championships Results, 1896" (http://athsvic.org.au/wp-content/uplo
ads/1896-Victorian-Mens-Championships.xls). Athletics Victoria. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
16. "1896 Australasian Championships Results" (https://web.archive.org/web/20180919171742/htt
p://athhistory.imgstg.com/aust_tf/tf_m_1895-96.htm). Athletics Australia. Archived from the
original (http://athhistory.imgstg.com/aust_tf/tf_m_1895-96.htm) on 19 September 2018.
Retrieved 21 December 2014.
17. "Meet our alumni: Mr Edwin Harold Flack OM 1890" (https://mgs.vic.edu.au/about/our-people/
meet-our-alumni/mr-edwin-harold-flack). Melbourne Grammar School. 2008. Retrieved
17 February 2020.
18. Lennon, Troy (6 April 2016). "Delirious Aussie Edwin Flack punched a spectator during running
of the first modern marathon" (https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/today-in-history/deliriou
s-aussie-edwin-flack-punched-a-spectator-during-running-of-the-first-modern-marathon/news-s
tory/50d05523c7cbf72dc831ba45be32f52a). The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. Retrieved
17 February 2020.
19. "Edwin Flack – Athletics" (https://www.sahof.org.au/hall-of-fame/member-profile/?memberID=3
80&memberType=legends). Sport Australia Hall of Fame. 1985. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
20. Rout, Miranda. "First Olympic champion gets a bronze for 'just being there' " (https://www.thea
ustralian.com.au/news/nation/first-olympic-champion-gets-a-bronze-for-just-being-there/news-s
tory/cf38db9ca2dda6d5a2afefaf77adf4bb). The Australian. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
21. "Flack on the track" (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43496705/the_age/). The Age.
Melbourne. 29 July 2000. p. 273. Retrieved 2 February 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
22. Swanton, Will (10 August 2019). "Sally Pearson's picks to improve our track record" (https://w
ww.theaustralian.com.au/sport/olympics/sally-pearsons-picks-to-improve-our-track-record/new
s-story/a6dbf6b79f797a96021c3c8a8c0b3785). The Australian. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
23. "First Games" (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43493849/the_sydney_morning_herald/).
The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. 25 November 1956. p. 25. Retrieved 2 February 2020 –
via Newspapers.com. "Flack was a Victorian cattle-breeder and director of several companies
when he died at 59 in Melbourne 21 years ago, after an operation. He never married but is
survived by his elder brother, Henry, his partner in the accountancy firm of Flack and Flack."
24. "25 things you probably didn't know about Edwin Flack" (https://web.archive.org/web/2008073
0003223/http://www.casey.vic.gov.au/olympic/article.asp?Item=838). City of Casey. Archived
from the original (http://www.casey.vic.gov.au/olympic/article.asp?Item=838) on 30 July 2008.
Retrieved 22 September 2008.
25. Nichols, Rochelle Llewelyn (2014). Joe Quinn Among the Rowdies: The Life of Baseball's
Honest Australian (https://books.google.com/books?id=CifaBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA162).
McFarland & Company. p. 162. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
26. "Venue Details" (https://web.archive.org/web/20170218064341/http://apssports.sportzvault.co
m/common/pages/public/rv/venue.aspx?venueID=10970&popup=1).
apssports.sportzvault.com. Archived from the original (http://apssports.sportzvault.com/commo
n/pages/public/rv/venue.aspx?venueID=10970&popup=1) on 18 February 2017. Retrieved
17 February 2017.
27. "Edwin Flack" (https://www.sahof.org.au/hall-of-fame/member-profile/?memberID=380&memb
erType=legends). Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
28. "Edwin Flack" (http://www.athletics.com.au/About-Us/Hall-of-Fame/Edwin-Flack). Athletics
Australia. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
29. "Short and Petrie honoured with Edwin Flack Award" (http://athletics.com.au/News/short-and-p
etrie-honoured-with-edwin-flack-award). Athletics Australia. 13 April 2017. Retrieved 14 April
2017.
30. O'Connor, John J. (20 May 1984). "Squeezing Inspiration from the 1896 Olympics" (https://ww
w.nytimes.com/1984/05/20/arts/tv-view-squeezing-inspiration-from-the-1896-olympics.html).
The New York Times. Retrieved 2 February 2020.

FitzSimons, Peter (2006). Great Australian Sports Champions. Harper Collins Publishers.
ISBN 0-7322-8517-8.

External links
Biography in Australian Dictionary of Biography (http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A080
540b.htm)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edwin_Flack&oldid=955041993"

This page was last edited on 5 May 2020, at 16:56 (UTC).

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